Kik Interactive, the Canadian creator of the chat platform Kik, has announced that it is launching Kin, its own native cryptocurrency. Kin will be created as an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and will be integrated into Kik as the primary transaction currency.

Kik Messenger has over 300 million registered users, and is mostly popular with teenagers. It is known for features preserving users’ anonymity, such as allowing registration without a telephone number.

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“Kik believes that Kin can bring together a broad group of participants to create an open ecosystem of digital services that prioritizes consumer experience and choice,” said Ted Livingston, founder and CEO of Kik. “As a leader in the chat space, we want to bring a fair and sustainable model for digital services to the market and fuel an alternative ecosystem for communications, information, and commerce.”

Kik plans to create a decentralized ecosystem of digital services through four steps: create the Kin cryptocurrency on Ethereum; integrate Kin into Kik; develop the Kin Rewards Engine, a crypto-economic structure intended to promote the use of Kin as a common currency; and launch the Kin Foundation, a non-profit governance body for the Kin Ecosystem.

“We believe cryptocurrency is the next important business model innovation in tech,” said Fred Wilson, partner at Union Square Ventures and Kik board member. “Kik will be the first mainstream application to integrate a cryptocurrency. This could be a watershed moment for the blockchain sector.”